By  Steve Huff   

June 13, 2006

RENO, Nev.  (Crime Library) — In the middle of the day on Monday, June 12, 2006, shots echoed in the streets around the Mills Lane Justice Center in downtown Reno, Nevada. A window shattered at the Justice Center, and as the sounds of gunfire died away, a well-regarded but sometimes controversial figure in the Reno legal community lay fighting for his life on the floor of his office.

Former Reno radio personality and newspaper columnist turned Family Court Judge Chuck Weller had been shot at least once in the chest. 

A man already suspected of committing a murder at a Reno apartment complex across town, Darren Roy Mack, age 45, was being sought by Reno authorities in connection with the incident late Monday. Local Reno media were reporting Monday night that Judge Weller was alert and able to speak with his family.

Darren Mack was still being sought by Nevada authorities for questioning in the apartment complex homicide, as well as the shooting of Judge Weller.

Reno police indicated that the murder in which Mack was a person of interest and the assault on Judge Weller happened just hours apart.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Chuck Weller was elected to the bench in 2004, after a career as a local legal pundit.

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Steve Huff can be reached via the contact form at his weblog, http://www.HuffCrimeBlog.com/.

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